Why do airplanes take longer to fly West than East?

Question

Why do airplanes take longer to fly West than East?

Answer 1

It's interesting that you ask this - I am directly experiencing it right now as I sit on an airplane from the UK. It took 5 hours to go West-East on this journey, but is taking about 7 East-West. The reason for the difference is a atmospheric phenomena known as the jet stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the West to the East across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the West-East direction when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

Every planet has global wind which are mostly determined by the way the planet rotates and how evenly the Sun illuminates it. On the Earth the equator gets much more Sun than the poles. resulting in warmer air at the equator than the poles and creating circulation cells (or "Hadley Cells") which consist of warm air rising over the equator and then moving North and South from it and back round.

The Earth is also rotating. When any solid body rotates, bits of it that are nearer its axis move slower than those which are further away. As you move north (or south) from the equator, you are moving closer to the axis of the Earth and so the air which started at the equator and moved north (or south) will be moving faster than the ground it is over (it has the rotation speed of the ground at the equator, not the ground which is is now over). This results in winds which always move from the west to the east in the mid latitudes.  

Answer 2

it may sound funny but i had the same experience. i went to vegas and i live in texas. i was not sure if it was just me being dumb or what. lol. but i know the time changes. so that may have something to do it. then i thought about this. maybe because the wind mostly flows from west to east. maybe that makes the plane flow a little faster. i dont know, but i understand your question.  

Answer 3

its called time zones and since when its noon here in cali its already 3pm in NY. it takes longer time wise but not really to fly there. but since flying back from NY to CA you lose three hours it sems to take less time.

Answer 4

Westbound they are going against the jetstreams and eastbound they are going with them.  I recall flying from Phoenix to Cleveland and beating schedule by up to 40 minutes.

Answer 5

the earth is also moving!

Answer 6

Because the world spins in one direction... :) ok there is more to say... so here you go.

It's interesting that you ask this - I am directly experiencing it right now as I sit on an airplane from the UK. It took 5 hours to go West-East on this journey, but is taking about 7 East-West. The reason for the difference is a atmospheric phenomena known as the jet stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the West to the East across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the West-East direction when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

Every planet has global wind which are mostly determined by the way the planet rotates and how evenly the Sun illuminates it. On the Earth the equator gets much more Sun than the poles. resulting in warmer air at the equator than the poles and creating circulation cells (or "Hadley Cells") which consist of warm air rising over the equator and then moving North and South from it and back round.

The Earth is also rotating. When any solid body rotates, bits of it that are nearer its axis move slower than those which are further away. As you move north (or south) from the equator, you are moving closer to the axis of the Earth and so the air which started at the equator and moved north (or south) will be moving faster than the ground it is over (it has the rotation speed of the ground at the equator, not the ground which is is now over). This results in winds which always move from the west to the east in the mid latitudes.